Incheon Airport celebrates 17th anniversary

Seoul’s Incheon International Airport celebrated its 17th anniversary last Thursday, vowing to become an airport of smart technology moving forward.

The ceremony was attended by some 400 airport employees, officials from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport as well as airlines and partner companies.

Incheon International Airport CEO, Chung Il-young, said “Incheon International Airport was able to take a leap as Northeast Asia’s hub airport where an average of 62 million passengers visit and 2.9 million tons of air cargo are delivered each year, thanks to the support from the government as well as passengers.”

The airport currently ranks 10th in Asia for overall traffic, with a 7.5% increase over 2016.

According to the airport, it aims to become listed among the top three international terminals by 2027, handling up to 130 million passengers a year across its two terminals.

The opening of Terminal 2 in January, which saw the relocation of SkyTeam members Korean Air, KLM, Delta Air Lines, and Air France from Terminal 1, has already raised the international airport’s annual capacity from a previous 54 million to 72 million.

Last year, the airport introduced cleaning robots and guidance robots in the check-in and duty free areas. The airport said its hardware infrastructure will continue to be upgraded to support the stable operation via technology, laying the groundwork to be a high-tech leader in the global aviation industry.